Friday, March 16, 2012

I'm a week late



Here's my nine on the ninth from last Friday. Some day I'll get my act together. I think I totally skipped February so it doesn't really matter anyway.

>>Cate woke me up bright and early to play doctor. Open your mouth. Wider. Wider. Wider. Hmmmm. It's worse than I thought. Where does she come up with this stuff? Maybe she was talking about my morning breath, not my tonsils.

>>Reese's peanut butter cereal. I don't know the real name. That's close enough. I like it. A lot. It's been for sale at Costco the last few times I've gone. I keep buying it. Oatmeal and I are on a break right now.

>>Chocolate for dessert (breakfast deserves dessert too you know) sitting on top of the strip we pulled off the Grama Bama countdown chain. She'll be here soon. Not soon enough, but soon.

>>I switched out the cookie jars. For winter I use the snowman. Winter's done. I don't really think winter was even here but I call it officially done when I switch out the cookie jars. I love this cookie jar. It was Grandma's. I think it's kind of summery because of the peaches. Right now there's Girl Scout cookies inside.

>>Talking Time with my boy. His teacher thinks he'll be ready to graduate soon. See. I told you he's a genius.

>>Taking a walk down the street to pick up Cate from her little friend's house after Talking Time. It was a nice day for a walk. We stopped by the bakery on the way home for a donut. Ever since I worked at a donut shop my senior year and ate all the donuts I wanted and gained A LOT of weight, I can't stomach the smell of the inside of a bakery that smells like donuts. I like the bread smell but the donuts kill me. I wonder if I eat too much chocolate, I'll some day not be able to stand the smell. I hope not. (See that tree behind Danny? You can see it in the movie Footloose if you look real fast. Also seen, the roof of my house. No kidding.)

>>Getting all prettied up for pictures. First time I've ever used a curling iron on her hair. It didn't curl.

>>Some afternoon refreshment on the way back to pick up the pictures. Aunt Judy kept the kids at her house so I was all by my little lonesome. I liked it a lot. I think I need more time all by my little lonesome on Friday afternoons. It's good for me.

>>5:00 snack of slightly thawed berries on my bed. Look! There's my feet! Danny stayed at Aunt Judy's house. Cate and I came home. I turned on a show for her and told her I was all done (meaning pretty please let me just go sit down and rest my weary bones for a few minutes without asking me for anything). That lasted about 10 minutes.


And now for my big time favorite picture from the day:



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(Thanks to Dan for his amazing DNA and to CameraShy for the picture...and now they have bunnies. I should've waited. Dang it.)


I know, right?

The cuteness just about killed me.

Forget about where did my babies go. Where did my toddlers go?

I sure love 'em. Even when they don't give me a moment's peace to eat my slightly thawed berries and stare at my feet.

I'm sure there will be plenty of time for feet staring when they're both away at college...if I last that long.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

marriage prospects



A little conversation on the ride to preschool this afternoon (give or take a few words...hard to take notes when you're driving):


him: Mommy, I'm having a few ideas of who I can marry.

me: Oh, great! Who are they?

him: Well, the one who lives next door to Hailey and Karly.

me: You mean Jane? That's a great choice. She's a really nice girl. Who's your other choice?

him: What's the name of the 5-year-old who lives at Debra's house?

me: Well, there's two of them. Mia and Chloe. Which one would you like to marry?

him: Who's the one with all the hair on top?

me: Chloe has curly hair and Mia has straight hair, like me.

him: Chloe then.




Looks like he's got a thing for older ladies with curly hair.

* * *

And then he suggested that Cate could marry Ray Ray. I told him that we don't marry our cousins.

He said it would make it easier if she did. Easier on what? I'm not really sure.


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All pictures of my cute boy taken by the lovely Mikayla at CameraShy. Why I remember her name I'll never know (probably spelled it wrong though). There's lots more where these came from. I promise I'll keep sharing until they run out.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

pictures and words


We took the kids to see The Lorax a few Saturdays ago. I loved it. Danny was glued to the screen the entire time. I only had to take Cate to the restroom once. It was delightful.



And I am a goober. It's true. Sometimes I can't help myself. It's easier than trying to be dignified and refined.

* * *

Our order of Girl Scout cookies arrived last week. I'll always support the Girl Scouts (since I was one for 10 years and even earned my Gold Award and I brag about it every chance I get because it's the highest award you can earn, kind of like the Eagle for the boys and we all know that's a big deal). I'm not sure how many boxes I'll be buying when the price goes up again. They were $3.50 for a box this year. I remember selling Girl Scout cookies in front of the Kroger grocery store way back in the day. They were $1.50 a box. That was easily 30 years ago so now I feel really old.



I bought Thin Mints (which are not even tempting to me because I don't like mint and chocolate), Thank U Berry Munch (because that's just such a clever name), Samoas (also not tempting to me because I don't enjoy the coconut/caramel combination), Peanut Butter Patties (but I don't remember the name they go by nowadays and Danny and I ate the whole box the first day so I can't check) and Dulce de Leche. My favorites are obviously the peanut butter patties. Coming in second place are the Dulce de Leche. They're yummy and small. Portion control is easier when they're small (if you care about such a thing when you're eating cookies).



Danny took a bite of the Thin Mints and decided he wasn't a fan either. That's what he decided was a "bite." He's a funny kid.

I was standing in line at the grocery store last night and saw a little display selling Girl Scout cookie flavored lip gloss and chap stick. If I had been alone I would've snapped a picture with my phone. Sadly, at almost 10:00 at night there were a few people in front of me and a few behind. Late night shopping for everyone. Would you buy Girl Scout cookie flavored lip gloss? Yuck.

I noticed the lady in the checkout next to me was buying every box of Gogurts in the whole store. It seemed like that at least. And boxes and boxes and boxes of Reese's peanut butter puff cereal and Cap'n Crunch. I'm pretty sure she was one of those crazy coupon ladies but come on. What are you going to do with all that Gogurt? Freeze it I guess. Do you really need it though? I don't understand. I totally understand the Reese's puff cereal though. That's one of my favorites.



Ray Ray put on Cate's pink shoes. Then he pushed her shopping cart around (after he had filled it up with stuff and draped a blanket on top). He got mad at me for taking his picture, kicked the shoes off and went away to pout in private.



When I taught school I ordered some practice books called Drops in the Bucket. I got all the grade levels (since I taught such a variety of ability levels in my class). I found the kindergarten book and have been giving Danny "homework" every once in a while. I don't do it all the time because we all know that worksheets are not the best way to learn. I know. I know. He doesn't know that yet so worksheets it is!

He seems to enjoy them. We're just working on the math ones. I've got the reading ones somewhere out in the garage in all my boxes of school stuff. I don't want to overwhelm the poor kid though. Plus, he seems to really enjoy math right now.

He's become quite mathletic. I'm very proud. We were driving past a gas station the other day. He said, "Mommy, what's 59 plus 9? 69!" I said, "Well..." and he answered back, "No. Wait. 68!" He's a genius.

He wasn't thrilled when I asked if I could take his picture. Notice the mad eyes.



And he still doesn't enjoy writing his name. I did the D and the a. He's going to be so thrilled when he starts school and the teacher makes him actually write every day.



Danny and his adorable future brother-in-law. They're just too cute.



When I registered Danny for kindergarten last month I put him on the waiting list for the morning class. I'm not really sure why I did that. He's not a morning person. He needs a few hours in the morning to get going. He likes to take his time eating breakfast and spend time with his Legos. Get up, get dressed, go go go is not something he's good at.

I was worried about Cate's preschool schedule so I attempted to work around that. Then I got to thinking that Danny's the important one for next year. Kindergarten trumps preschool. I called the school and switched Danny to afternoon. There's no waiting list for afternoon kindergarten. Apparently morning is the popular spot to be. I guess lots of people have early risers. I don't know.

The morning I called the school and switched him to afternoon, he slept until 9:45. Um, yeah. Pretty sure I made the right choice. Then I had to wake him up and rush off to Talking Time. He was not thrilled about that. The kid needs warm up time in the morning. That's what he gets for sleeping until almost 10:00 though.



Speaking of Talking Time, Danny still doesn't want to sing anything. This past week he hummed though. It was funny. He was humming really loudly. The teachers were smiling and praised him when the song was done so I guess that was a good thing. We're making improvement.

He got chosen to lead the goodbye song again a few weeks ago. He chose a stick with a fish on top and then just stood there, looking down at the floor during the entire song. I could see that his face was bright red too. I know how he feels. That kind of stuff kills me too. I wish I could figure out how to make it better for him.

He's making lots of improvement with his words. Last week his homework was a lot of s blends. He used to say chop instead of stop all the time. He'd pretty much substitute ch for the beginnings of lots of words. Now he's got the s (and not a lisp anymore!) and the st too. Woohoo. He's practicing sl words this week and it's not easy for him. He's getting better though. Slug. That's a tough one.



Aunt Nancy came for a visit and Sunday dinner a few weeks ago. We put her right to work playing games and tea parties. That's what happens on Sunday afternoon in a house where nobody naps anymore (well, Dan naps but that's about it.)



Did you know you can recycle your pantyhose? I had no idea.



I thought old pantyhose were supposed to be used for craft projects.

* * *

You know today is Pi day. March 14th. 3.14. Get it? Somebody taught Danny about pi. Or is it Pi? I don't know. He already knows about infinity (and beyond) and negative numbers so pi seems fitting too. I explained to him that pi is 3 and a little bit more. I think it might be time to make a number line on my big empty dining room wall. Maybe use a little more of that chalkboard paint.

Anyway, I was going to make some pie for pi day. So very original. I know. I'm not going to though because that just seems like a lot of trouble. I don't think Danny would understand the calendar connection quite yet. Maybe next year. I was going to make these apple pie foldovers but now I'm not. Too much work. Plus, I'd end up eating too many and that's not good for anyone.

* * *

And last but not least, Danny said to me the other day, "I love nothing more than Hard Puppy and you!"

Proof that I'm not so bad after all.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

just another chalkboard project


Here's the thing.

I feel like I spend most of my days cleaning things and folding things and washing things and wiping things and disciplining things and cooking things and picking up things and brushing things and flushing things. All day long.

And then once in a while I have a little idea about something I'd like to do around the house that could possibly make my kids happy and me happy and so I do it. But because I take the time to make that little idea come true, all that cleaning and folding and washing and wiping and cooking and picking up and brushing and flushing gets put on the back burner and then I feel like I should be doing all that instead of this one little thing that I actually want to do. It's a vicious cycle.

Have an idea. Really want to turn that idea into reality. Think about that idea while doing all that cleaning, folding, washing (you remember the rest) and then feel like there's no time. NO way I could do that one little thing I just really want to do. Feel guilty. Do that little thing I want to do anyway. Feel guilty some more. Then feel a little bit happy that I did it. Feel proud of myself for accomplishing something that day besides all the boring stuff I have to do. Take pictures. Blog to show off that little thing that I did because what else am I going to show you? Pictures of the laundry I folded? The dishes I washed? The bums I wiped? I didn't think so.

So here's what I did.


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I painted the closet door. It's in the dining room because that room used to be a bedroom.

I like it and it makes me happy.

I know that chalkboard paint is all the craze now a days. I get it. But I don't care. I really like it. Maybe because it reminds me of school and I like school. I always have. I used to hate summer break because I just wanted to be in school. I absolutely hate the feel and sound of writing on chalkboards but I sure do think they look nice.

The best part about this chalkboard project is that it was free (besides all the guilty feelings it cost me from not doing my housewifery duties). Aunt Judy let me use her chalkboard paint. That cute little roller and tray were free too. There was some kind of facebook thing a while ago from Sherwin Williams for a free paint sample. I signed up. When it came, that cute little tray and roller were included. I love free.



Cate likes the new chalkboard too.

I love watching her draw. Danny never cared about drawing. He'll color in a coloring book but rarely ever just draws something. Is that a boy thing? I don't know. Cate just loves to draw though and her creations are adorable.



I found this little box of chalk in the cleaning/purging/organizing spree I went on a while ago. Dustless white chalk. Can't ask for more than that right?


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Know what I love about this picture?


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Her belly.

The look of concentration on her face. That tongue that just wants to poke through her lips to show she's really thinking. Dan does that too. Must be hereditary.

Her candy pants.

Her feet. She's got some cute ones.

Danny got in on the action too. He drew a road.

Yes. He holds his chalk/crayon/pencil/pen/marker the wrong way. I've tried to help him. I even bought one of those do-hickeys that you stick on the pencil to help him hold it correctly. He just gets frustrated and quits. Ah, the joy of preschoolers.



So there's my chalkboard project. I like it. I did something semi-crafty and DIY and home improvement. Yay for me!

Monday, March 12, 2012

tiny dancer

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Ok, so she's not very tiny anymore.

She sure likes to dance though.


*All photos thanks to CameraShy

Friday, March 9, 2012

new favorite picture of the year so far

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Stay tuned.

I might have a new one tomorrow.

It's very likely.

*Thanks to the very patient, kind lady at CameraShy for the picture of my adorable babies.
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